The Life of Tom Riddle
by Ashely Ruiz
Summary: "Beware of the still waters, for heavy currents run underneath"-unknown. Our lives were changed unexpectedly that day. We didn't know we were starting the journey of our lives.
1. Chapter 1

It was a hot and humid day, the sun was shining bright above our heads, the heat was slowly talking away all of our energy but the dry moisture was the true killer. It was so humid, that the sweat falling off my neck was gluing the clothes to my sticky back; it was so uncomfortable and so unbearable. It was a waste of time having to be out in this heat; instead I should have been in my room, with the AC on full blast. Maybe none of this would have happened in the first place. But, at the time, I guess that's just what a typical, Friday afternoon was like in Florida. Even after being there for a good solid 5 years, I'm still not used to that heat. I never had to go through that in Spain, well yet again. Florida is nothing like my beautiful Spain.

Anyways, back to my point, my friend, Emma and I were walking down 8th street that day after school. The scorching heat was just brutal on our feet, especially since we had to walk all the way back home. We had just come back from the public library where we were doing a power point for English class regarding the ethnic groups in Afghanistan, something that I knew much about. It was a simple assignment for me and I'm glad that I got to choose my partner, Emma. She is smart and very dependable; she made sure that I actually finished the work, something I often don't bother to do because I can be a bit lazy. It's not that I don't like school; it's just that I can't find myself to be motivated. Perhaps if my school wasn't so awful, I could maybe try harder.

Once we had finished our project, which I say looked amazing, we decided to look up some funny memes, both of us didn't want to go home so soon, not that I ever wanted to go home at all, and had a couple of hours of pure fun. And that was what we were discussing at the moment, walking slowly down the street, the Harry Potter memes that we had been checking out on the computer. We both love Harry Potter and shared a few laughs, something we do fairly often at school.

In fact it was that love of Harry Potter that brought me and Emma together to become best friends. We shared other things, but that was our most common interest.

Unfortunately our fun was soon to be over and soon we would be returning back to our boring lives at home. I realized that when we began to pass a short canal near Emma's house.

It was a small canal next to a gas station; it was pretty scenic with its small patch of dark grass and its rocky cobblestone walkway. The sunlight made the emerald green water sparkled softly. I told Emma that I wanted to sit next to the grass. It was really hot and I was tired and it would be a nice time to relax since I still had a long way to walk till I got to the bus stop to go home. Unfortunately, Emma's mom was working till late at night so I had to take the bus home instead of just going to her house and her mom taking me home and that was a real bummer.

Emma protested at first, she didn't think it was very safe, she never wants to do anything fun but she followed me anyway, not that I gave her much of a choice. We sat on grass for a while, soaking in the warm sun on our back, when I noticed that the still river was slowly churning. Like someone was mixing it with a giant enormous invisible spoon. I leaned in, peering into the water. That was something you don't see every day, Emma told me to get back. Then an unknown force began to push me towards the water's edge. I tried to grab hold of the grass beneath me but it was no use, the grass was moist from the water and it was too slippery to hold on to. I looked to my right and saw that Emma was having the same problem.

The water began to turn faster. It was turning into a formidable black hole that was sucking everything in. The force was too great; Emma, who had less upper body strength then me, was quickly sucked up by the black hole. I screamed her name but got no response from the hole. I couldn't keep holding on for much longer. My fingers lost their grip and I was swallowed by the abyss.

I was being consumed by the inky black water and mist. There was no sense of time within the hole. Did I exist? Was I dead? There was no way of telling. I was stuck, fading. Fading into a world I never thought I would be a part of.

I woke up later in a dingy alley. I wonder how long I had been out for. It was so dark and cold; I felt a shiver in my arms like goose bumps. A stark contrast to the warm afternoon I was experiencing earlier. There was an unknown presence next to me. I turned my head and saw that it was Emma...but it wasn't really her. She was lying down, front faced on the stony concrete. She was smaller, her dark brown hair reached to her waist instead of her shoulders; something that I had gotten used to since the last 2 years I've known her for. It was almost like looking at a picture of her when she was eleven or so.

I tried getting up when I slipped on a puddle to my left. I shifted my body just enough so I could look at my reflection in the muddy puddle. I gasped. I was staring into the eyes on of my eleven year old self. I've always had short hair so that was no surprise, but my current incarnation was sporting the same short bob I used to have. I was paler, thinner and smaller then then when I was eighteen. I couldn't believe it. How was this possible? My head was hurting and throbbing like crazy but I knew I had to get up.

I got up and walked over to Emma. I began to shake her lightly. "Wake up Emma."

She stayed down for a while so I had to keep shaking her until she woke up groggy and asked: "What? What happened? Where are we? How long were we out for?"

"I don't know." I responded, I was worried that my face would give way what I was feeling. Out of the both of us, I'll admit it, I'm the stronger. "But come on and walk with me to that puddle so you take a look at this yourself."

She stoops up slowly, not really understanding why i wanted her to do what I had said. She looked down at her body, a puzzled look crossing her features. Then she looked at her hands. She looked up at me then walked to the puddle and saw her reflection. She got startled and whipped around and REALLY looked at me.

"Oh my god! Look at us. We've been turned into some small, little kids. How is this possible? What in the world just happened?" she asked so confused. I was too but then I thought of something.

"I really have no idea. It must be because of that vortex we went through." I said.

"What?" Emma said, not understanding. "You mean that swirling thing in the water?"

"Yeah, I saw it on the history channel once. Scientist have stated that our world is littered filled with portals and vortexes. They are gate ways into other dimensions or worlds. Sort of like the Bermuda Triangle. Sometimes people unknowingly or deliberately walk into them and are transported to these different worlds or dimensions. That is what must have happened to us with the canal." I explained.

"This isn't funny, Ashely." She said, she was angry at me, she probably thought I was kidding or making jokes but I wasn't for once. "This isn't one of your history channel documentaries!" She yelled. She was upset, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was upset as well.

Suddenly we heard a noise coming from the other end of the alley. It sounded like a person coming out way. It was dark but I could barely make out a dim light from that direction.

"Quickly" I whispered to Emma.

"Let's hide behind those trash cans before they spot us." I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me. I wasn't sure what to do, but if my father thought me anything is that the police only make things worse.

We ran to some large bins of trash cans and hid behind them. It was smelly and filled with spoiled food that was slipping from the tip of the bins, barely toughing my arms.

"What? Ashely what are we doing?" Emma asked me. Emma was completely pure and I'm sure she would try to ask the police man things and how were we supposed to answer them how we got here?

"Shhhh.." I whispered to her.

Soon the person came into view. It was a man. Wearing a police officer's uniform but he didn't look like your average police officer that we had in South Florida. He looked like those British policeman from the 1920's that you would see in old movies. He was moving slowly towards us and swinging his flashlight back and forth. I grabbed Emma's arm and pushed her down to the ground.

After a couple of minutes, the light started to dim and I figured the police officer was going back to where he came from when out of nowhere a giant black cat jumped out of the shadows and landed on a nearby trash can lid. And I, being the klutz that I am, screamed and jumped to the side, knocking a trash can in the process.

"Damn it! Why the fuck does this happen to me? Stupid cat' I thought.

"Who goes there?!" the policeman screamed from the other side of the alley.

I was planning on running away when Emma stepped out and said, "Hey! It's ok. It's just us. Can you please help us? We are lost and we don't know where we are."

The police officer turned around and came towards us. He was tall and had a mean, hard look in his eyes, he reminded me of my father a lot.

The policeman looked from Emma to me and narrowed his blue eyes. "What's going on here? Why where you two doing hiding behind those trash bins just now?" He had British accent which I thought was pretty weird. But I wasn't going to point that out just yet.

"We hid because we were scared. We didn't know who was coming and it could have been anybody. Maybe a robber or something and I were just trying to protect us." I said with a stony face. I had to think of something, some sort of lie.

"Why are you two in this alley? Where are your parents?" He asked, obviously still suspicious of us.

"We don't have any." I lied. God what am I saying?

"They were killed several years ago by some man who was trying to steal from our house. We don't have any living relatives so we've been living on the streets ever since. Emma and I am sister, see?"

At this point I stepped next to Emma so that the police officer could see our similarity. Yes we weren't sisters, but we both had darkish hair, although hers was light and we had chocolate eyes that looked very alike, enough to mistakes us for sisters, well hopefully. I took hold of Emma's hand in my on and said: "We didn't mean any harm officer. We were just trying to get some from food from the garbage when you came by."

Emma was staring at me like I was crazy, which I am, but I needed to get control of the situation for now. The policeman still had a look of doubt.

He turned towards Emma: "Is it true what your sister just told me?"

Emma looked from the police officer to me and back. Out of the two of us Emma looked a lot more innocent then I was. She had the face of a kind and sweet girl, which she was. In school I had a bit of a reputation for bull shitting everything so we were quite opposite but if Emma agreed with me then it must be true. I squeezed her head and nodded my head.

"Y-yes, it true." she said. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Not believing what was happening.

The policeman's expressions changed into one of pity, his blue eyes softened and he had a warm look in his eyes.

"Well alright then, you two are very brave young girls to be here all alone "He said with sympathy. "Now let's get you guys down to the station and give your something warm to eat." And what seemed as an afterthought he said: "And give you some proper clothes. You guys be freezing."

I guess it was to be noticed. I was wearing my school khaki pants with a white undershirt, I had my blue school shirt in my backpack which I noticed wasn't around, something that I really didn't care right now. Emma, on the other hand, was wearing khaki shorts and a light blue shirt but she was wearing a violet jacket that she loved so much, so she wasn't that cold but in this windy place, wherever we are, she was still shivering.

He turned around and started walking down the alley; Emma and I are in tow. Emma let go of my hand, having relaxed a little. She turned her head to me and whispered.

"What do we do now?" I shook my shoulders, not having a clue. All we could do now is follow the police officer and see what is going too happened.


	2. Chapter 2

It was very dark, cold and stormy. We slowly followed the police officer as he let us towards what I could only imagine would be the police station.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't pretty upset about what was happening. Of all the things that just had to happened, this happened? What does that even mean? I clenched the side of my check in fury and annoyance. I looked over at Emma and I felt a bit bad. I could tell she was pretty scared. Her brown eyes was glued to the ground, staring at the rocky cobble stone sidewalk, never looking up at me.

But what upset me the most about all of this is that I have no idea where we are. I hate this feeling. I tried to figure out where we are by the buildings around us and where we walked to, but I couldn't tell.

Not even the signs we passed helped me figure out anything about where we were. We did pass some beautiful old lamps post, those that you see in the classic films, so beautiful and bright, it was something I had never seen before but they didn't help me figure out where we were either. I was getting very anxious as we continued walking down the streets. My feet splashed a small puddle of water, it had rained recently. I clutched my fist.

"I'm Officer McMullan, by the way. When we get to the station I'll give u both a tinge of super. But I'm going to have to ask you guys to answer a couple of questions, nothing too hard alright." He glanced over at Emma and me.

I just looked at him with indifference. I didn't care about him although I was hoping the station wasn't to far away the cold weather wasn't helping me calm down. Emma was shivering next to me, I grabbed her hand and we entwined them together, her warm hands made me feel better.

"We'll also give you some warmer clothes. How can you be walking around without a sweater, not to mention the middle of the night around mid-October? You should both now better than that." He shook his head lightly.

I really couldn't say anything. I agreed with him but it wasn't like we planned this. I didn't wake up this morning saying, hey lets magically transport to a different country today. Still what I need to do is try to figure out where we are. I can't tell it's so frustrating not being able to know where we are.

But I know I have to figure it out for us. I mean I know we are not in Florida anymore; we have to be somewhere more north with all this cold weather.

It does remind me of something but I'm not sure of what it is. I did live in Spain for a very long time and the cobblestone streets were very reminiscent of the streets of the Spanish city I lived in. Perhaps we could be in Spain. But that would make no sense.

I looked up to the sky, it was steel grey filled with clouds. It barely had any stars and it looked like it could rain at any moment. Now that I really think about everything looks grey from the sky to the street to the old brick buildings covered with soot.

I became more anxious as a picture began to form in my head. All of the books I've read, all the British television shows I've seen and all the internet pictures I've researched for my English literature class. The officer's Irish name, the weather, the buildings, it all came together. Holy crap, we're in England!

**At the police station**

We finally arrived at an old brick building that was the police station. The exterior looked like many of the other buildings; it was covered with soot and was old. There was a hanging sign above the door that spelled London police station, it was spelled with a dark ugly brown and was fading away. The N.P.O was missing, so it actually spelled "Londo lice station."

Well at least now I know I'm not completely crazy. The police officer ushered us inside the station. Inside of the building, the picture was not any better. The brick floor was dirty like no one had ever heard of a broom in a century. I wonder did they even have brooms in this time period. I'm pretty sure they did, but I doubt they put much effort into using it. It looked like it hasn't been cleaned in years.

But that wasn't the worst part. Dark brown desk were scattered everywhere, not in a straight line like they are in any police station in Florida. I've been to one when my mom disappeared and it didn't look like this at all. Papers were everywhere, on the desk, on the floors, stalked precariously into huge towers that threatened to fall over at any moment. One light bulb was flickering on and off rapidly. This is just great we just had to end up teleported to some dump in London, I thought.

Then it hit me; the shear impact of it almost crashed my lungs. It was hard to breathe all of a sudden. Emma and the officer suddenly stopped what they were doing and they turned around to look at me.

"What's wrong, Ashley?" Emma asked.

Her dark brown eyes were watery; it was obvious that she had cried though she was trying to hide it as best as she could. Emma had a really loving family. She had a kind mother and grandmother who loved her very deeply. I knew that they were most likely worried about what happened to her. Who knows how long we have been gone for? An hour, a day, a week?! I don't know all I know is that no matter how much time had passed; Emma had people looking for her, worried and scared if anything happened to her. She's lucky, in a way.

Sure, Emma wasn't the richest person I know. She lives in a small, modest trailer in the trailer park with nothing but a nickel to her name. She lived with her mother and her cute little Labrador who she named Blanca. I don't know why since she's black dog but she tells me that's what's called irony. Things like that made me laugh a bit; I wish this wasn't happening now. I want to go back to my warm bad and just stare at my patchy ceiling knowing where I was. Not being in this dump.

Sheesh now that I think about it, poor Emma. Here I am complaining and crying, but all she is doing is smiling softly at me; her eyes worried. I'm so selfish. Even when the world feels lost and scary, she still manages to put on a happy face every time I see her. I need to be strong right now. I've been through worse, alone. But now I need to take care of Emma, she's the closest thing I have to a best friend and I can't let her go through all alone. I need to snap out of it.

"I'm fine" I lied "I'm just really cold and hungry that's all. Don't worry." Emma knew I was lying but it didn't matter now. The officer took us into a small waiting room and told us to sit down. He went to get the other officers and to get us some food and warm clothing. He said everything would be alright.

The room wasn't any better it was a dark room with a light bulb hanging from the ceiling; it looked like it would fall any second. We sat down in some very uncomfortable chairs and just stared at the wall for a short while. They were grey as well. Emma didn't talk to me, she was thinking. I noticed a small crocked calendar that was hanging on by a small little piece of tape right across from me. I should see what day it is. Still I couldn't bother to get up

I begin thinking, what's the point. I have nothing to live for anyways. I'm not close to any of my family members like Emma; I didn't even want to go home this morning before it all happened. Yes, I did live with my father but it didn't seem that way, we live two completely different lives at different schedules. We barely saw or even talk to each other, in fact in the last month I've only talk to him when I needed money for lunch. That was it. He wouldn't care if I didn't come home today.

My stepmother on your other hand didn't really like me at all; I know she wouldn't miss me. I had no doubt in my mind. To tell you the truth it really hurt to think that out of all the 6.5 million people on this planet only two who were really going to miss me. My two closest friends Adam and Ariana: and even then they wouldn't find out immediately that I was gone. I don't talk to them that much as it is. It might take days for them to find out I was gone.

But that isn't the point, right now. I need to stop this pity party I'm having and get in gear and figure something out. Sure I might live in a two-story house with the white picket fence and the all American dream but in my head I've always been nothing. But doesn't matter anymore I will prove to them all that I can achieve anything and everything. If I could somehow managed to get us back home then I would be worth something; not just a pack of meat taking up space and air.

I stood up and walk to the corner of the room, lost in my own private mind. I looked around; Emma on the other side was going through a tough time now. She might have the same feelings as me.

"Emma, are you okay?" I asked her. She looked up and her eyes were puffy from all the crying she had done. Her nose and face was as red as a tomato. It was so red that it reminded me of Rudolph the Red Nosed. Mm, probably not a good time to mention that, now that I think about it.

"Listen you have to stop crying. I know you miss your mom and grandma. But we don't have time to be upset. Look you saw the sign outside right?" I told her.

She nodded at me, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Ok then, I know it's hard to believe we've been somehow transported to London, but that's what happened. The officer should be coming back at any time we need a make plan. Do you have any ideas?" I asked.

"No, you're the one that usually comes up with those stories. Like the sister thing. Do we think we should tell him it was a lie maybe telling the truth will help us get out of here?" she said.

"No way, if we tell them that they might send somewhere for mental disturbance children or something. Nobody would believe us. Heck I wouldn't either. What we need to do now is continue with the lie we established and not to embellish anything. It has to be possible and we should stick to truth of our lives as much as we can." I said.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. I don't like it, but you're right. So where should we start?" she asked me. I'm glad she is on board with me.

"Well, let's see. We should start at the beginning. Like our names. I think we should use our original names. Our names aren't weird, or anything and it would be more difficult if we changed it. So we're still Emma and Ashely, right?"

"K, what about our last names, we're sisters so it should be the same for both of us right."

"Yeah, that's it. So what do you want to use Acosta or Ruiz." i asked. Those where are original last names.

"I think yours. I like your last name better." Emma said

"Alright then, from now on we will be known as Ashley and Emma Ruiz."

"Ok now we have to talk about our parents, where should our parents be from. We have to be careful since we don't look too much the same, it should make sense where they are from." I said.

"I think our parents should be from Europe, maybe somewhere more south. Since my family is Spanish we can say that both are parents are from there." I said to her.

"Yeah!" Emma said

"I have an idea, since your parents are from Cuba. We can say we're half-sisters and our parents are divorced. I was born first, since I'm the older one, from my mom who was from Spain and then you from an immigrant Cuban woman, who would be our mother now. That's why we're different looking. Your tanner while why I look like I've been bleached. It makes perfect sense." I said grinning.

"Haahehah." Emma smiled at that. It was always a joke of ours that I was so pale white and she always had a good laugh because of it , but most of all I'm glad to see her smile again.

"Yeah that could work a lot in fact. I still can't believe you know all of this." Emma said to me. She was returning to her old self.

"Well I read it in a book." I told her.

"Hehe, so typically. Why would you read a book that teaches you how to lie? Sheesh." I laughed as she said that and she joined me. Everything was starting to return to normal now.

I frowned a bit as I thought of something.

"Hey we still need to figure out how we ended up here? It's a bit odd to see some orphans from Spain roaming the streets of London and in this time and age. And that's another thing what day is it?"

"Well go look at the calendar," Emma pointed to the barely readable calendar taped to the wall.

"Huh? Why don't you get up and see it?" I frowned at her.

"Because you're my husband, remember?"

Yes, now I remember. Back in junior year, I and Emma made a joke that if we ever got married I would be the husband. We don't like each other that way, but rather it was funny conversation topics that lead to that conversation. I would be the husband because I was the one who could open all the jars and packages, I could fix things and I would always have all the money and do anything she said. On the other hand, Emma was the wife because she was soft-spoken and always supported me in everything and made sure I finished my homework or study for a test. Since that day I have been the husband and she uses that against me. I always follow it, so I guess I better do as I'm told, or I sleep on the couch tonight.

"Fine!" I said

I walked over the counter and saw though what I thought was coffee stains that it was November 1, 1937.

"Holy mother of god, get your ass over here now!" I screamed. My face was probably red from the lack of oxygen I was feeling.

"Do I have to?" She asked, her lips pouting a bit.

"Get over here now!" I screamed louder at her.

"Calm down. Ok I'm coning." She stood up and dragged her feet towards me and stared at the calendar near me. Her eyes widened.

"1937!" she said, screaming as loudly as did. Her eyes were huge and her mouth gaped open.

"What in the world does that mean?" she asked at me.

"What do you mean, what does that mean?! It means that we can stop whining about our parents, they aren't even alive yet! Heck, I doubt that your grandmother has even been conceited at all!" I yelled.

Suddenly we both heard a loud thump from the main room. Also a bunch of talking and arguing was heard.

"Stop yelling! I think the officer is coming back. Ok, I know this is a lot and I'm scared but at least we know what year we are in. But now we need to hurry up and come up with something. Why did we move to London before the police officer gets here." Emma snapped me out of it. Perhaps since we're already lost in this unknown place, the fact that we've been transported to the past doesn't face her as much anymore.

I scrunched my face and began tapping my forehead vigorously trying to come up with some sort of solution.

"Ok. So we lived in Spain together for a while with your mom and our father who was a merchant. Sometime later a business-man came and offered him a good deal to work in a factory or something like that. He wasn't making enough money so your, well our mom convinced him to move to London and we lived there happily for a while and then the murder happen. There, the end!" I said. That was the best plan I could come up with at the moment.

"Does it really have to be a murder?" Emma asked. I know she doesn't like these sorts of things.

"Well, that what we told the officer. It would be strange to go back on our story now wouldn't it?" I tried to explain to her.

"Alright but I don't agree with it," Emma said.

"Ok so we've been in the streets for about 3 months. They die during the summer and we move from Spain in the spring that's why we don't have any that's a story. Got it?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I got it I guess." She replied.

We heard more ruckus from the other room and footsteps coming down the hall. We backed away from the calendar and want to stand in the middle of the room.

The door open and then came in officer McMullen followed by two other male police officers like him.

The first one was very tall and thin, with a messy shade of red hair on his head and a face full of little freckles. The other office was short and fat with blond choppy curly hair that looked greasy and he had a face full of pimples.

They didn't look to be very intelligent but judging from the look of this place it wasn't hard to tell. The porky one was carrying a tray of what I could guess were British biscuits and the officer McMullen held in his hand two steaming mugs. My stomach growled. I just realized that I haven't eaten in a long time.

"Alright you two, I bought you some hot tea and some biscuits." he said it was a bit hard to hear him talk with his British accent but I figure I will get used to it after all we didn't know how long were going to be in this situation

The other 2 offices were standing behind McMullen. The skinny one was holding some sweater in his hand; he was currently fighting with the other one for some reason.

"See I told ya." The skinny one said to the other one.

"No ya didn't." The fat man replied back.

"You said that Skipper was to win, but that old Riley won."

"No I didn't. I said Skipper was to win if his bum leg of his worked." The skinny one replied.

"Oi!" Officer McMullan yelled.

"If you two don't stop wasting my time with your idiotic talk ill smack you both on the head. Now be quiet and give the girls the clothes and food. Now! Before I truly get mad!" he yelled. The two other idiots gulped in response and nodded their heads.

They walked over to us and handed me the pile of clothes and Emma the tray. The sweaters were big and baggy. One was black and the other was a dark red. I gave Emma the red one, since I liked the black one better. I put it on over my head and felt warm all over. Emma thanked the officer and he just smiled. It was nice to be warm again but they weren't the best sweater. As I looked at it I noticed small holes in the side and Emma's sweater had a huge stain in the bottom that wasn't pretty. They had a foul odor as well, like it hadn't been washed in a while.

But it was better than nothing.

Emma tapped me on the shoulder and held out a small biscuit. It looked so yummy and fluffy. I put it in my mouth; it was hard but tasted so good. They were warm and sweet, how delicious. I grabbed another and savored it in my mouth.

"Here you go," a voice called out to me. The officer handed me a steaming cup of hot chocolate. The smoke of the freshly made cup smelled so good. I put it in my mouth and sipped the sweet drink down my throat.

"It's so yummy, right?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, it's good." I replied.

"Thank you for the drink," Emma smiled kindly and the officer returned the smile as well. I never realized how cute she was. I bet she could get a lot away with that sweet smile.

"It's nothing. I'm glad you like it, but I need to ask you guys some questions now okay. Are you ready?" he asked us.

He took out a pen and notebook and was prepared to write down information.

"Lets start simple. What are your names?" he asked, clicking the pen.

"I'm Ashely and she is Emma." I replied.

"Ok and your last name?" he scribbled down some notes.

"Ruiz."

"Aright then, know tell me, Ashely is it, when were you guy born?"

"I was born October 28th, 1926." I lied. I quickly did the math in my head. It took me awhile but I figured it was a safe bet he would ask that. Emma raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

"Emma, was born July 28th, 1927." I lied again. I did use the same month and date, just different years.

"Ok, then. That makes you the eldest. Mm alright then." He continued to write something down on the notebook.

He continued asking question for what seemed like an hour. The two officers had left a while ago and we were getting tired. I replied to most of the question, Emma just nodded along. I knew if she answered them she might screw up. She isn't used to lying, she doesn't like it.

"Well, that's it."

"Finally!" I replied. I was tired of lying and talking so much. The officer looked at me oddly.

"So what happens now?" Emma asked officer McMullen.

"Well, you and your sister are going to be staying at a wonderful place. Tonight you'll sleep here and tomorrow, bright and early, ill drive you two to a nearby orphanage."

"What? No way! You can't separate Emma and me!" I screamed. The pain in my lungs was coming back.

"Calm down." McMullen put his hand in my shoulder but I shook it off.

"No! Don't tell me to calm down. You can't do this!" I couldn't calm down. I felt this anger inside of me. I wanted to make this man go away.

"Ashely!"

Emma grabbed my shoulder, her eyes shined brightly.

"It's okay, he's not going to separate us. Right, Mr. McMullen?" she pronounced his name oddly, but I couldn't believe that I was the one freaking out now. I finally breathed and felt the fear go away.

"Yes, that's right. No need to worry." He took out a small tissue from his pocket and dabbed the sweat off his forehead.

"The worst thing that would happen is that you might sleep in different rooms. But that is it. No need to worry. Mrs. Cole assured me that you would receive a nice and warm welcoming." He said.

After that was just a blur. He shook our hand and said he would bring a pillow and blanket for us to sleep on. We would sleep here, in this cold and horrible room. The nightmare I thought was over was just beginning. Emma hugged me tight, I felt a bit better. The night passed slowly. The floor was cold and not even the small blanket nor the sweater helped me feel warm that night.

I heard a small sighed and sniffles throughout the night. But all could think about was why did the name Mrs. Cole sounded so familiar.

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Thanks for everyone reading, and if you catch any mistakes please tell me. Thanks and enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning feeling tired and groggy. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was and what had happened. The memories of the day before came flooding back like a large tidal wave. I felt a sore pain in my chest. Everything that had happened and that was about to occur was drowning me. The same feelings I felt last night came rushing back. Suddenly, I heard Emma stir beside me. She woke up with a loud yawn, stretching her arms over her head, the same way she used to stretch when we were in our psychology class. She looked at me, her presence reassured me.

"Hey, Ashley." she said rubbing her eyes with the back of her knuckles lightly, something she always did.

"Good morning." I replied in sour mood. I wasn't exactly a morning person to begin with and this wasn't making it any better.

"Did you sleep well?" Emma asked, being the caring person that she was.

"Yeah." she could tell I wasn't in the mood to talk. After being together for so long, she knew my hermit like nature. I was like one those old guys in those old TV shows that lived in the swamp. And that took his gun out anytime somebody stepped on his property. Not a pretty picture, but that's the way I was.

Luckily at that moment, Officer McMullan walked into the room. He distracted us from our awkward silence. I noticed he was carrying a tray filled with many small pastries and two large white mugs. I smelled the sweet aroma right away. I could tell it was the same hot chocolate that we drank yesterday.

Emma and I walked up to him and eagerly took the mugs and the tray into our hands. We devoured the pastries and drank the warm chocolate. The sweet chocolate felt good going down my throat. It was so filling and it made me feel better about the previous day's events. Emma said thank you to the officer, of course. And he just smiled. He asked us a couple of question, nothing important. I let Emma do the talking, I wasn't in the mood. She had to carry her own weight around; I'm not going to do everything for her. Making up lies was hard work, you know. I deserve a break too.

Soon we were done eating the pastries and the Officer McMullan told us we had to go now. I could tell by the look in Emma's face that she didn't want to go, but I couldn't do anything about it. She had to stick it out and do what he said for now. He seemed like a good man, who truly cared for us.

He ushered us to the front of the police station where we saw an old vintage car parked.

It looked like a box with four wheels attached to it. The Chasse looked worn out; there were dents in the middle of the large bumper. It was a faded black color and a headlight was missing. In its prime it might have looked like a good car, but now it just looked like it should have been scraped at the junkyard.

Emma just looked at it with amazement, I think it was the first time she had seen a car like this.

Officer McMullan opened the door for us. I went inside first. The seats were made of faded leather. There where rips and tears in several places. It made me wonder, what did this guys do in here?

Emma scooted in next to me, I looked up and saw that the chubby officer from before was at the steering wheel. The skinny red-head was sitting by his side. They were arguing, again. The red-head kept on changing the radio station saying that he didn't like Harvey Copper's voice. He said it was too nasal and not as good as Greg Walker's. The fat one objected saying that he loved Harvey Copper's smooth voice. I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Really?" I muttered under my breath. "There should get married or something."

Emma giggled at that comment. She had this small giggle that I found was very funny sounding and cute.

I felt a nice breeze in the air, luckily it wasn't raining today. The window was rolled down on Emma's side of the car when officer McMullan leaned forward.

"Officers' Beatle and Harrison will take you two to the orphanage. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. Wool's Orphanage is a great place. Mrs. Cole assured me that you two would be well taken care of." he smiled but it looked a little strained to me. Perhaps he wasn't being completely honest. He turned his head and shouted at the officers. "You two cut it out! "

Officer's Beatle and Harrison stopped immediately. "Now I want you two to take good care of these young girls until you reach the orphanage. And no funny business! You got it?!" he warned.

Officer McMullan stood back and Emma rolled up the window. He hit the back of the car and yelled:

"Hit it!" and off we went.

I couldn't shake that feeling of déjà vu. No it wasn't that, not exactly. It was a word I couldn't describe. A tip of a tongue phenomenon, it was a term for when you couldn't remember a certain word, and that was what I was feeling at the moment.

Wool's Orphanage. Mrs. Cole. Where have I heard these names before? It wasn't a feeling of déjà v since I never experienced it before, but something else. Arckk! It's so frustrating, but ill probably remember some other time.

But now I had a feeling that Officer McMullan had lied to us. That we weren't going to a "good place where they would take good care of us." I could tell by the look in his eyes.

It was always the same. Adults where never truthful in anything they did or said. I usually don't care, but it isn't me anymore. I looked at Emma; she was staring out at the passing building. I made a decision right then and there. I would never trust another adult in my life. No, not as long as we were stuck in this mess.

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Thank you for everyone reading my story and liking it. Sorry this chapter was a little short, but the next one should be longer. Thanks again and please feel free to critic in whatever you find wrong or think i should work on. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

We passed several buildings and streets; they were all passing by in a blur. We turned towards K-Pax, or something like that. I'm not exactly sure. I couldn't recall anything from that ride to the orphanage-not even after all these years. I wasn't paying much attention to the trip because I was occupied with this ominous feeling since we arrived here. Emma was scared to death, I could by the way she just sat next to me, chewing her fingernails. Officer's Beatle and Harrison were arguing about the radio again. I swear if they say one more thing about Harvey Cooper's voice I'm gonna smack them over the head.

"So…" Emma said, apprehension apparent in her voice. She turned over to me; her pretty brown eyes were filled with worry.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked me.

"Well…."

I figured it was about time that I told her about my foreboding feeling, since we were in this together; she had the right to know. Besides, I couldn't keep this from her for too long. Anyways, she would have just badgered me all day until I told her.

"I've been thinking about telling you something for a while now, but I really don't know how to say it."

"Really? What is it?" Emma's face lit up. She probably thought I had come up with some sort of ingenious plan or solution of how to get us out of here. I felt a bit bad that I really couldn't figure this out and would only bring about more bad news.

"I've had this ominous feeling. Ever since Officer McMullan said the name of the orphanage we are heading for. "Wool's Orphanage!" doesn't it sound familiar to you. I'm certain I've heard it before. Have you?" asked with much distress.

"Hmm…. Wool's Orphanage. It sounds familiar but I don't really know from what though." She said with a puzzled expression.

I sighed. This wasn't going to get any easier. Just then, Beatle and Harrison had shut up. The car had stopped moving. I never even noticed, it felt like a second ago we were just leaving the station.

I looked out the window. What I saw scared me, I still have dreams about it- even to this day. I saw this old, brick chapel. It was covered in soot just like all the other buildings I had seen. But unlike all the buildings, this one had an imposing manner to it. You could've tell that's in its prime it must have looked pretty majestic, but now it looked like a piece of crap.

It still looked scary. The windows were covered with rusty bars, reminding me of those bars they put on the windows in mental institutions. A bell that hanged from the chapel tower was cracked along the middle. The roof was covered with pigeon nests and it looked unkempt. Well, nobody cleans there roof anyways, never cleaned my roof either, so I can't really blame them, can I. But still, please don't tell me this is the orphanage we have to stay in. I mean, yeah I wasn't expecting some 5-star hotel, but something better would be much appreciated

I turned my head around when I heard a slam of the door, it was Officer Beatle who got out of the car and opened our door.

"Come out, lasses. Welcome to your new home."

While I was busy cursing mentally, Emma took the opportunity to grab my arm. Looking at Emma, you would never think she had much strength, but when she was frighten, with her hard small fingernails, it really hurt. She could have a really tight grip. I had a bruise on my arm for a week.

Officer Harrison got out of the car as well and both of them led us up to the doorway. The door looked like it was made from Oak-wood or something like that; it was thick, shabby old door with cracked paint peeling off the side. Officer Harrison pulled a piece of rope hanging from the side of the door, and a loud ringing was heard from inside the building. It sounded like the bell was dying, it hurt my ears.

A woman quickly came to answer the door. She open the door with a quick and loud thump, crashing it into the side of the wall. She was young girl, looked about fifthteen or sixteen years old. She wore an old gray skirt and blouse, but it was nicely sown and cleaned. She was pale and had long black hair that she wore in a bun. Her face was sharp and with lovely greenish-blue eyes, she seemed nice.

"What do you want?" she said in a high shrill voice, I was wrong.

"We're here to drop off the kids," said Officer Harrison, picking his nose. I didn't want to see that, but I did.

She turned her heard back to the building, and screamed in a loud voice inside.

"Mrs. Cole! The street rats are here!"

Ohh the seething anger, Emma looked at me with a pleading look, her arm on my shoulder, please don't start a scene, she seemed to be saying. I calm down a bit; I mean I just got here. I don't want to get kicked out already, that happened way to many times. I sighed.

And out came, Mrs. Cole.

She was a young woman with light blond hair; she wore it in a short wavy bob. She looked tired and harassed. Like caring for a bunch of stupid orphanages was a lot work.

"Good afternoon," she said in a well mannered voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Cole," Officer Beatles said. "We're here to drop off the younglings."

She looked down on us then. She had these watery blue eyes filled with such compassion.

"Well, how are you girls? Please, come inside. Thank you officers, but I'll take over from now." She ushered us inside and waved goodbye to the officer. They waved back towards us and Emma waved back, while I sneered in derision. We walked into the building, but not before I looked back again just in time to see Officer Harrison smack Officer Beatle over the head.

"Don't you ever criticize Shelly O'Mara again! I love her late time shows!" Those idiots. I bet if homosexuality was more acceptable in this time period those two would definitely be married.

I looked back into the interior of the building. While the outside looked old and weathered, the inside actually looked well kept. It wasn't anything fancy. Just some old wooden furniture and rug but at least it was clean. Everything about the building was old but at least it looked like the care takers actually tried to preserve it. Maybe this place won't be so bad.

Mrs. Cole was talking, introducing herself and the orphanage. She told us the school schedule and what not to do, things I didn't really care about. Blah, blah,blah. Shut up old lady, nobody cares.

We walked more inwards into the buildings. The hallway was large and filled with various hallways, where they were many corridors branching from the main hallway. It was large with wooden beams supporting the roof. I could tell Emma was going to get lost many times here.

I'm like her private GPS system. She never knows where anything is and I have to tell her where to find everything. I mean she even gets lost in our old school, even though she had been there for about two years. But that was who she was and I can't change her.

We turned left, deeper into the hallways, probably into our brand new rooms when out of the corner of my eye I saw Emma standing with her mouth hanging open. I had this nagging feeling that something was wrong. She looked paralyzed.

"Emma, what's wrong with you?" I asked. She just ignored me.

Then I looked at the direction she was looking at and that's when I saw him, they're getting out of his bedroom. Right then, like an actress saying her line on cue Mrs. Cole said. "Oh, Emma, I see that you have just noticed one of our residents. Girls, this is Tom Riddle. Tom come and say hello."

Holy Shit!

And that is when it all clicked. The buildings, the date, the names of Wool's Orphanage and Mrs. Cole. I knew were we where and I didn't know what to think.

There he was, the pale skin, jet black hair, and dark eyed boy who would someday kill so many people. It was really him, there, standing in front of me wearing a brown jacket and dark pants. He was small and cute, dare I say, and nothing i expected from the ten year old Tom Riddle.

While I was lost in my stupor Emma just kept looking at Riddle. She just stood there with her mouth open, like a fish out of water. We must have looked like idiots and that is how I felt, to tell you the truth. Riddle was just looking at us with a sneer plastered on his face. He didn't seem to like this sudden interruption in whatever he was doing.

Not that he was doing much; he was standing there, leaning against the door frame with a large book in his hand. I wonder where he was heading, knowing him, probably going to some indoor courtyard to read.

I quickly snapped out of my reverie and plunged into action. If we were in front of the future Dark Lord, I was not going to allow us to look like a bunch of twits. I'll make sure he remembers us.

"Yo." I said, pinching Emma's arm at the same time. "My name is Ashley an' dis be my lil sis Emma. What up?" I made a peace sign at him.

'What the hell did I just do?' I was trying to be cool and gangster but I think I mixed up the time periods a little bit. I don't think that was how Al Capone would do things.

Tom Riddle, Mrs. Cole, and Emma looked at me like I just sprouted an extra head. I mentally slapped myself. At least I could say that I beat Nixon at doing the peace sign. Not that wizards would know what that meant anyway. At least Emma had managed to close her mouth and started to glare at me.

"Well…" Mrs. Cole said. Probably trying to figure out what just happened. "Like I was saying these are you're new bedrooms. Now, here we house the children according to age groups. Ashley, since you are a year older then Emma you will be sharing the same room as Tom. Now Tom don't make that face. And you Emma will be sharing a room with Amy Benson. Now I will take you to the dining hall. You girls must be starving. Say good bye to Tom."

Emma just waved her hand, still to stun to say anything. I just looked at the floor, to embarrassed. 'What a way to empress the future Dark Lord.'

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Thank you for reading and i hope you all enjoy this chapter, please review if you catch any mistakes. Thank you and good night. That's all Folks.

P.S. There's a secrete movie reference. You get a cookie if you catch it, its kinda obvious. Peace, yo.


	5. Chapter 5

We were in Wool's Orphanage, one of the bleakest places on Earth. It wasn't necessarily an exaggeration, for our predicament was very bleak indeed. You might say there was some light at the end of the tunnel though. We were in the same orphanage as Tom Riddle. In time he would become our savior, the dark one who showed us the light. Irony is a part of life—I had always known that—but things were about to get out of proportion really fast.

Soon after I ridiculed myself before Mrs. Cole and Riddle it took a lot of muster to be able to lift my face and walk through the corridors of the orphanage. Emma was… well. It is hard to describe really. Have you seen a fish out of water, gasping for air, yet looking as if she is in heaven at the same time? Yeah, me neither, but that is the best way I can describe Emma right now. She just met the love of her life—literally. She had been a major Tom Riddle fan girl since the day I met her. I could not start to recall all the Tom Riddle fan-fiction, memes, and wallpaper she had showed me over the years. She had even threatened me once—no, I am not exaggerating here—that if I ever fell in love with or developed a crush on Tom Riddle, or anyone who looked like him, she would kill me. I am serious! That is what she said. I know that Emma does not look it, but she can be quite persuasive when she wants to be. Like one of those sweet anime girls that become evil whenever you interfere with the source of their affection. She reminds me of an anime she got me into, called Future Diary. She loved that anime and she reminds me much of the psychotic fan girl, Yuno. I assume she is going to start repeating his name just like Yuno. Tom, Tom, Tom.

While she was predisposed, thinking up fantasies with Tom Riddle and his amazingly gorgeous body or so I assume knowing her, I became increasingly preoccupied with figuring out what we were going to do. I, with what some might call a stroke of luck or misfortune, could go either way at this point, was sharing a room with Tom Riddle. Honestly, I didn't mind, it would be sort of cool to share a room with the future dark lord; knowing him, however, I knew he would not agree. Neither would Emma for that matter. So while Mrs. Cole was giving us the "tour", I took that time to asses our situation.

We soon made it into what would be the cafeteria. You could tell that in its prime it would have been a great room, but now it looked like a piece of crap. It was about the same size as a small recreational room. There were five benches lined in five horizontal rows. To the far right corner there was a small opening in the wall where a small window was located. Next to it was a pair of double doors. From out the window, smells of cooked food could be detected. That was where the kitchen had to be located. I figured. There were several children sitting on the benches. The sounds of chatter, laughter, and the distinct resonance of cutlery scraping plates could be heard.

"And lastly, this is the cafeteria," said Mrs. Cole, pointing at the room. Her face flushed with all walking we had done. She looked glad to be done; she probably didn't show children around too much. "You will report here three times a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Also, every Sunday we head to the church nearby, and afterwards we go home and drink some tea. Some of younger children have named it Tea Time, and it has become a ritual here, we drink delicious Earl Grey with biscuits in the hall. I'm certain you two will enjoy it just as much as the other children."

'Tea Time. What an odd concept, it's so gay.' I thought. Awe well, it was something that I would soon get used to though. I looked through the room. The caretakers were standing round the room making sure the children behaved themselves. The children were ranged from the ages of about four to teenagers of about sixteen. There weren't any toddlers. All of them were dressed in a similar fashion as Riddle, with hand-me-down clothes that had seen better days, but that still held together with the fine stitching the caretakers of this place seemed to use. The girls wore dresses and the boys wore trousers. 'They better not expect me to wear any of those dresses.' I thought to myself as I glanced at a girl who wore an appalling yellow dress with sunflowers. 'I don't care if it's the 1920's and women wear skirts. I'll start the women's freedom movement if I have to.'

"Now," Mrs. Cole said, interrupting my thoughts. "You girls must be hungry. Sit down on any of the benches. I will get you some food shortly."

This was good. Now I would have some time to talk to Emma and figure out what our next move was going to be. I directed to the farthest bench, away from most of the children who didn't pay us any mind, and to any prying ears that could listen. Emma followed me like a lost little puppy. She just kept moving her head left to right, looking at all the children; she seemed to be intimidated by some of them, even though she was older than half of them. We sat down and I began to talk but was quickly interrupted by Emma.

"Ashley, can you believe it? We just met Tom Riddle! Isn't it amazing?" she whispered excitedly. Suddenly her eyes darkened. "And you just made me look like a fool in front of him," she said accusingly. "Seriously, 'What up, yo? My name is Ashley and this be my lil sis Emma'. We're in the 1920's not the 90's. Why the heck did you talk like that?!"

"Ok, I will admit that wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. But I didn't make you look like an idiot. At least I talked. You just stood there with your mouth hanging open," I countered.

"Well you know how nervous I get talking in front of people. Plus, it was him, Ashley, the Tom Riddle. Do you know how long I have fantasized about meeting him?" she half yelled, having one of her fan-girl panic attacks.

"A lot," I said in a bored monotone. "Look Emma, you have to stop fantasizing about Riddle, we have bigger problems to solve right now."

"You're right." Emma said, regaining her composure. "We definitely need to fix the fact that you are sharing a room with him."

I smacked my face with an open hand, in consternation. "Ok, right. You want to share a room with him, right?"

She shook her head enthusiastically. "The only problem with that is that they house the children according to age here. I am a year older than you, and I don't see how Mrs. Cole is going to let you share a room with an older boy," I reasoned.

"Well then make it happened." Emma ordered. She could be quite bossy when she wanted to be.

"All right, all right!" I cried, exasperated. "I will talk to Mrs. Cole when she comes back. But I do not think it is going to work. I think you know that too."

"Yeah, I guess you are right," she admitted. She looked down-trodden. There must be something I could do to convince Mrs. Cole. I did not know how, but I would make her see reason to let Emma stay with Riddle. My prayers were answered. Mrs. Cole came walking to our table carrying a tray with two bowls on top of it.

She set the tray on the table and handed each of us a bowl. Inside was what my best guess could be gruel. It didn't look particularly appetizing, but I figured it was better than nothing.

"I hope this will fill you up. Now you have two more hours to play and talk with the other children and then it is off to bed. All children must be in bed by nine o'clock. No exceptions. If I happen to find any of you lurking around the hallways at night you will be punished accordingly. I wish you two a good evening."

With that Mrs. Cole turned around to leave, but before she did I said: "Wait, Mrs. Cole! I was wondering if I could ask you something." With my most fake, goody-two shoe tone.

She turned and asked: "What is it dear?"

"I was wondering if you would be willing to let Emma stay with Tom Riddle instead of me." I said.

"That will not do at all, Ms. Ruiz." She said crisply. "Like I said earlier, we house the children here according to age group; we also strive for the roommates to be of the same sex. Now, do to certain complication we do not have any available rooms where you could stay with another girl, Riddle is the only child here who has a room to himself. Emma is a year younger then you and I do not consider it appropriate to house her with a boy that is older then she is. You request is denied, Ms. Ruiz. I wish you a pleasant evening and fair well."

"Wait? That's it? Listen, I understand your housing prerequisites, but Emma would much better stay with Riddle then me. She is very mature for her age and won't bother him. I, on the other hand, have a bit of a history getting into fist fights with other boys. And I do not think you would want me to cause such discord if it could have been easily avoided." I said. I was entirely lying when I said I had been in fights before. I had had several fights with my best friend Adam in the past. But they really weren't fist fights.

Mrs. Cole did not look please to be arguing with an eleven year old. "While I will admit Ms. Ruiz, that you surely are quite eloquent for your age. Your argument does not stand. We have rules and regulations here that will be held. While you may have had a difficult time in past-I know that you were homeless and out on the street for sometime- those days are behind you. You are back in the hands of civilization and you and your sister must follow her statutes. It is the only way for order to be maintained. You may not agree with me, because I can see it in your face, but you will obey our rules Ms. Ruiz, or face the consequences."

That got me mad. I was never one for order; personally, I viewed a little chaos in one's life to be a good thing. For without chaos, what was the point of order? I admit it, I do not like to obey rules, I do not like somebody telling me what to do. My father had never been the most diligent of parents, neither had my mother, they had led me run lose and free. I never really knew if they did not really care or if they were just negligent. Either way, I preferred them to be negligent then actually be on top of me. That would have been much more annoying, like how Mrs. Cole was acting now.

I felt a wave of energy flow through my body. I had never experienced anything like it before and felt a little scared. Along with the wave came a feeling of self assuredness. I felt like Superman. I stood up and look directly into Mrs. Cole's eyes.

"Listen, Mrs. Cole, I understand you have rules and regulations in this orphanage, but I want to let you know that I don't care for them. If you want to enforce them, as it is your job to do, that is fine, but just to let you know I will not bother to follow them, no matter what you do. My sister wants that room, Mrs. Cole. Would you really deny such a sweet girl a simple request as that one?"

Emma was looking at me like I was crazy, but I did not care, I knew what I was doing.

"Such rudeness will not do at all, Ms. Ruiz, come with me right now." Mrs. Cole said, grabbing my arm. She looked into my eyes as she took my arm, suddenly, she stopped. I felt like there was fire on my face, this intense feeling coming out of my eyes. Mrs. Cole stood looming over me, looking as if she had been electro shocked, Emma gasped, but I didn't dare look behind for fear that I would lose my control.

"Mrs. Cole," I said slowly and deliberately. "There is no need for us to fight. Just grant Emma her wish to share the same bedroom with Riddle. I will take her place with the other girl. It is all quite simple. Do you not agree?" I asked, with an odd voice that sounded foreign in my ear.

"You are right, Ms. Ruiz, I had not thought about it before." She said as though she were in a daze, letting go of my arm in the process.

"So you do see I am right, Mrs. Cole. I am delighted. I hope this isn't a big inconvenience to you." I said, faking concern.

"Oh not at all!" Mrs. Cole said. "I was quite silly of me to argue with you. You can switch places as you see fit Ms. Ruiz."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cole." Feighing gratitude. "I hope you have a good night."

"Like wise." Mrs. Cole said. "I wish you a good evening. Farewell girls, I hope you come to see Wool's Orphanage as your second home."

'In hell I will.' I thought, but instead I said: "Good night, Mrs. Cole. I am sure we'll come to love Wool's Orphanage as much as you do."

She nodded her head and turned to leave. I remained standing, watching her as she walked to the doors. Once she reached them, she shook her head like she was shedding the last strands of a deep sleep. She put a hand to her forehead; a look of confusion crossing her features. She turned to look at me then. I smiled and waved at her. She waved back hesitantly still dipped in confusion. She turned, opened the door and stepped out.

I sat back down on the bench and looked down at my would be gruel, and then up at Emma. She had a shocked looked on her face, she was pale, as if she had seen a ghost or something. Actually Emma doesn't like paranormal things. Even though I told her that it was no big deal, they were just ghosts, they were dead, is not like they could hurt her or anything.

"What?" I said, a bit irritated. She should have been thanking me for setting her up with the love of her life. Instead she was just staring at me. "Why are you looking at me like that? Aren't you happy that I got you to share a room with Tom Riddle?"

"Ashley," Emma said in a voice barely above a whisper. "do you know what you just did?"

As a matter of fact I didn't but I didn't see how that mattered.

"Yes." I lied. " I convinced Mrs. Cole to let you share a room with Riddle. Can we move on now?"

I dug my spoon into the gruel and began to eat it. Well I tried anyways; it tasted like I was eating mashed up cardboard. I spit it out and banged my spoon on the table. God, how I missed my stepmother's cooking. She was a really great cook, she cooks anything and I mean anything. Even haggis. Yes, haggis.

"Ashley!" Emma yelled.

"What!" I yelled back.

"What you did just now," she said, pointing to the spot where Mrs. Cole had once stood. "That was…" Emma stammered.

I stopped moping and looked at Emma again. Whatever I had done, I will admit, it had not been completely normal, but Emma looked freaked out, like I had just turned Mrs. Cole into a zombie or something.

"Ok, Emma, calm down," I said, trying to placate her. " I know what I did wasn't exactly normal. But what's the big deal? You have your room and that's all that matters."

"But Ashley, you didn't' see it. Your eyes… They glowed for a second," she said whimpering.

"They glowed?" Ok, now that was freaky. "Was it really noticeable? How bright were they?"

"They weren't that bright. They just lit up for a few seconds and then it was gone. But that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was seeing Mrs. Cole's reaction. At first she looked scared, but then she looked like she was confused, and then she just looked like she was high or something. Then she started agreeing with everything you said. She almost looked happy about it. It looked as if you had hypnotized her or something," Emma finished.

"All right. I will admit that that was very strange. I don't know how I did it. I just remember that I felt this strong wave of energy come into me right before I stood up. I don't know, it just happened," I finished. I was a little scared myself, but I wasn't going to let Emma see that because she was already scared enough as it is.

"Ashley, what's going on? I don't like this place. I want to go home," Emma said, starting to cry. I stood up and walked around the bench and sat next to her. I placed a hand over her head and said, "Look, I don't like this situation anymore then you do, but there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to make do with what we got until we can figure a way to get out of here and go back home."

She nodded and hugged me and I let her. I'm not a very feely person. I never liked to be touched and I'm not necessarily what you would call "nice". But I can be kind when I want to be. Emma and I just sat there until she had finished crying. It felt kind of awkward her hugging me and I just patted her head like a dog and kept saying 'It's going to be ok.' Pathetic, I know. I would never win the Nobel Prize for making people feel better.

Emma finally stopped crying (thank God) and stood up straight.

"Thank you, Ashley," she said.

"No problem." I replied, smiling.

"So what are we going to do now?" she asked.

"Now," I said, "you are going to eat dinner, if you can handle eating this stuff. Then we will walk around a little bit to get settled. And then you're going to go sleep with Tom," I finished, giving her a wink.

She blushed. "Shut up, Ashley."

I laughed. We were technically orphans, stuck in a place and time that did not belong to us, and I had somehow magically been able to brainwash Mrs. Cole into letting Emma share a room with Riddle, but I felt happy. Somehow I felt like I was actually ten again. I didn't like it—but it wasn't that bad either.


End file.
